HANOI, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's retail sales increased by 26.7 percent to 747.4 trillion Vietnamese dong (39.14 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half this year, said a report of the General Statistics Office on Thursday.

The country's retail sales reached 127.54 trillion Vietnamese dong (6.68 billion U.S. dollars) in June alone, said the office.

Retail sales in the trade sector recorded a year-on-year rise of 27.6 percent to 590.18 trillion Vietnamese dong (30.91 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months of this year.

Sales in hotel and restaurant sector went up 22.1 percent year- on-year to 81.8 trillion Vietnamese dong (4.28 billion U.S. dollars) during the same period, said the office.

Vietnam saw retail sales in the service and tourism sector reached 67.6 trillion Vietnamese dong (3.54 billion U.S. dollars) and 7.8 trillion Vietnamese dong (408.48 million U.S. dollars) respectively in the first half of this year.

Last year, retail sales in the country rose by 18.6 percent year-on-year to 1,197 trillion Vietnamese dong (62.78 billion U.S. dollars), according to the office.